Vigor of Twelve is a play off of the fact that Jesus had twelve disciples. It is a name that helps stress an importance on discipleship. This blog is specifically geared for younger people and mature Christians who don't mind a fresh, bold, and blunt approach to faith. Comments welcome, let's begin the discussion!

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Monday, May 30, 2016

Luke 9:57-62

Luke 9:57-62

And after they travelled along the road, someone said to
Him, “I will follow you wherever you should go.” And Jesus said to Him, “Foxes have holes and
the birds of heaven have nests. But the
Son of Man does not have anywhere that He should lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow me.” But the man said, “Permit me first to go and
bury my father.” And He said to him, “Leave
the dead alone to bury their own dead.
And you, after leaving proclaim the kingdom of God.” And still another said, “I will follow you,
Lord. But first permit me to say goodbye
to the ones in my house.” Jesus said to
Him, “After putting his hand upon the plough and while looking backwards is fit
for the kingdom of God.”

Thoughts
for Today

First Thought:

Each of the three people in this passage give us an
incredible circumstance. This first man
is perhaps the least incredible. When he
tells Jesus that he desires to follow, Jesus responds by telling him that He
has nothing. In other words, material
possessions aren’t going to be a big part of the game. Following Jesus means feeling like we don’t
really have much of a home in this world.
That’s a reality that all of us should accept if we follow Jesus.

When have you felt the pull between the things of this world
and the things of God? Which are the
things that last the longest?

Second Thought:

The second man gives us the most incredible
circumstance. Certainly Jesus is not
telling us that it is bad to bury our loved ones. But Jesus is telling us that doing the
bidding of the Father takes precedence.
The work of the Father is more important; although the two are certainly
not mutually exclusive. Jesus is also
teaching us a highly symbolic lesson. In
Christ, who is truly dead? Nobody! The dead – symbolically speaking – are beyond
our ability to help them. We should be
focused on the living, not the dead.

When have you had to make a tough choice about obeying
God? Have you ever been criticized
because of the choice you made?

Third Thought:

This third situation gives us another
incredible circumstance. Jesus is not
telling us that it is bad to love our families and want to say goodbye. What Jesus is doing here is giving us a
lesson on priorities. First of all, if
we are truly doing the work of God, no follower of God should get
offended. True followers of God will
know that the greatest priority is following God, not making family happy. Jesus is also telling us about perspective. For those of us who belong to God, there is
no such things as goodbye. How will we
ever be separated when we have an eternal life together with the Father?

Have you ever put the needs of your
family ahead of the desires of God? Have
you ever forgotten to live with an eternal perspective on relationships instead
of a temporal perspective?